Sewing machine



March 5, 194

SEWING MACHINE Filed. Jan. 14,193? 3 Sheets-Sheet ,1

J. 1' VDOWDALL 2,192,493

March 5, ,1. T. DOWDALL SEWING MACHINE Filed Jan. 14, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mud! 1940- J. T. DOWDALL 2,192,493

' snwme momma Filed Jan. 14, 193? 3 Sheets-Sheet s Patented Mar. 5, 1940 j UNITED STATE r SEWING MACHINE James T. Dowdall, Glcversville, N. Y., assignor, by I mesne assignments, Gloversville, N. Y.

to Elizabeth B. Straus,

- Application January :14, 1937, Serial. No. 120,472 40mins. (Cl. 112-98) My'inv'ention relates to a new and improved sewing machine, and a new and improved-method of sewing.

One of the objects of my invention is to pro-- vide a new and improved method of sewing an article, such as a sheet of cloth, or a sheet of leather, or other material which is used for making gloves, so as to provide an upstandingrib I or ribs uponthe surface of the work. Said rib work.

or ribs may be of a zig-zag shape or may have any desired ornamental shape. I Anotherobject of theinvention is to provide an improved method of sewing amaterial having said rib construction, with the use of .a--

multipleneedle sewing machine.

While the invention is directed primarily to the sewingof gloves, it is not necessarily limited to this purpose. g

Other objects of my invention are to provide a simple and efficient attachment which maybe applied, for the purposes of the invention, to

trade. Y v v Other objects of my invention will beset forth in the following description anddrawings which illustrate a. preferred embodiment thei'eofi-it being understood that theabove statement of the objects of my invention is intended generally to explain the same'without limiting it in any:

manner." Fig. lis a side elevation showing'a sewing machine to which the improved attachment is applied. v

Fig. 2 is a partial top plan vie w ofiFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top planview taken on thebed' plate,

of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation taken at the left-hand side of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view taken 5- 5 of Fig. 4.

1 Fig. 6 is a top plan view showing the completed Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the stitched article.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line 9--9. of

' Fig. 3.

Fig. 9 is a complete side elevation, taken at the left-hand side of Fig. l.

Fig. .10 is a plan View on Fig.9.

I have not illustrated the standard constructhe'line "-11 of tion of the well known sewing machine to which have two needles or more than two needles.

spaced front and rear arms.

on the line I haveillustrated the invention connection with a machine having'twoneedles, This well' "known machine has the head I and the bed plate 2 Said machine has a main driving shaft (not shown) which is provided with the usual hand wheel 3 and with the usual drive pulley 4. The needle bar 5 is mounted in the usual manner so that said needle'bar is vertically reciprocated' Referring to Fig. 9, this shows the needle bar 5 mounted slidably in upper and lower bearings l2; Said bearings are integralwith, or they are suitably connected to a frame 66, having The rear arm of the-frame 60 is pivotally connected to the head l of the machine, by means of pivot pins-t l Parts of the shanks of said pivot pins M are suitably threaded, so that said pivot pins can be screwed I through tapped openings which areprovided in superposed portions of the head I'.-

Fig. l and Fig. 9 show the standard; means I [for turning the frame 60 about the vertical axis sewing machines of a type well known in the of pins 61. Such means'includethe top bearingtionill of a member '9 which is pivotally connected to the head I, by means'of the pivot pin II; The pivot connection 8 can include a wingnut or any other suitable adjustable device so that member 8 can be adjusted and held adjusted relativetomember H,"i'n order to vary the amplitude of movement of the frame Gil. The novel parts of my attachment include a link- [5 :which is." adjustably and pivotally held in thejgroove ill of the member-.9, bymeans of a pivot member 14, whichcan be located in the groove Ill at any'desired distance from the pivot member ll; Saidlink l5 oscillates an arm H to which the link I5 is pivotally connected'by means of the member I6. I part of the novel attachment. and it is pivotally connected at 18 toa plate 19 which is connected by means of screws 20 to the head of themachine, above thebed plate 2. Said plate I9also forms apart of the novel attachment.

The lower end of the arm i1 is forked, and

said lower end is provided with a partial cylin 50.

dricalrecess, and the cylindrical head {2! of an arm 23 fits turnably in said'recess. Said arm 23 is turnably connected by means of; the member 22 tothe plate I9. Hence the arms H and 23 are rocked in respectively opposite directions.

The lower end of the arm 23 is turnablycon- The .arm' ll also forms a V The free end of the arm 28 is yoke-shaped, so u as to provide a recess in which the pin 34 of a turnable arm 33 fits more or less snugly. Said arm 33 is located on top of the needle plate 29,

which is removably located in a suitable cut-out" portion of the cover plate 3|. Said needle plate 29 has slots through which the teeth 39 of the feed dog can protrude so as to feed the work C forwardly and in a direction parallel to the axis of arm 33, when said arm is in the median posi-"- tion shown in Fig. 3.

Said needle plate of the usual type.

The arm 33 is connected to-the needle plate 29, by means of a pivot pin 35.

As shown in Fig. l, the actuating pin 34 extends through an opening of suitable width in the bed plate 2, and it also extends through a corresponding superposed opening in the needle plate 29, so that pin 34 can be moved laterally to-and-fro, in order to turn arm 33. Fig. 1 shows the needle clamp 31, in which the needles 36 and 36a are held.

Referring to Fig. 4 and in particular to Fig. 9,

29 also has a needle slot 32,

this shows the presser-foot 39 which is connected usual lateral arm 65, which is rigidly connected to said holder 38, by means of the usual collar. Upon moving the cam lever 63 to the position shown in Fig. 9, the holder 38 is held above its normal position. Upon turning the cam lever 63 downwardly, until it'clears and it is spaced from the rod 65, the spring 62 presses downwardly upon the collar of rod 65, so as to move the holder 38 and the presser-foot downwardly into normal position.

Fig. 4 shows the holder 38 in the which is illustrated in Fig. 9.

Referring toFigs. 1, 4 and 9, a collar 4i! is clamped to the needle rod 5,.between the lower bearing l2 and the needle clamp 31.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 9, said collar 46 is provided with a perforated extension, in which,

a rod 4! is slidably mounted. The rod 4| may have its upper end externally threaded and a nut 66 is connected to the upper end of the rod 4|, so as to act a? a stop for the rod 4|.

A helical compression spring 42 is located around the rod 4| and thelowerend of said compression spring 42 abuts the enlarged lower end of the rod so that the rod 4! is yieldingly maintained inthe position shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to Fig. 5, the underside of the presser-foot 39 is provided with recesses 39a and 39?), which are of unequal width. Said presser-- foot 39 is likewise provided with a perforation or cut-out 61, as shown in Fig. 10.

A supplemental presser-foot '44 is provided same position" elements, since the with spaced end portions 441), which are located in recesses which are provided in the vertical edges of the rod 38a, which has a generally rectangular cross section.' Said recesses are of greater height than the heights of the end portions 4412, so that the supplemental presser-foot 44 has a limited rocking movement relative to the rod 38. I

A screw 68 is rigidly connected to the lower adjacent part of the rod 38a and the shank of said screw passes loosely through an opening in the supplemental presser-foot 44 so as to permit said supplemental presser-foot 44 to have a limited movement relative to the rod 38a. The supplemental presser-foot 44 has this limited movement' in all directions, relative to the rod 38a.

Said supplemental presser-foot 44 includes a web, which has a front portion 44a, having a' slot 440. The slotted portion 44a of the supple -mental presser-foot can move up and down relative to the walls of the slot or opening 6! of the main presser-foot 39. a

A spring 69 has its lower end passing around a pin which is connected to the upper surface of thepresser-foot 39-and the upper end of said spring 69 abuts the supplemental presser-foot 44, soas to keep the two presser-feet in the normal position illustrated in Fig. 4.

The operation of the device is as follows:

As the main shaft of the machine is turned, a cam 10, which is partially shown in broken lines inFig. 1, is turned in the usual manner so as to rock;the member 9. This causes the frame 60 to be rocked. The needle. bar 5 is therefore moved laterally to-and-fro through an arc which is of small curvature. This cam 10 is geared to the main shaft, so that cam 10 rotates at one-eighth the speed of the main shaft.

In the particular embodiment shown, the needle bar makes four reciprocations in forming each series of stitches. That is, the needles 36 and 36a. will make their first or left hand pair of stitches, when said needles are located adjacent the left-hand end ofthe needle slot 32 (Fig. 3) inmaking the first stitch of said series. The nextpair of stitches of. the needles will be made when the needles are :at the right of the first mentioned position, andsaid needles will then make a third pair of stitches and a fourth pair of stitches, the needle 36a being located close to the right-hand end of the needle slot 32, when the fourth pair of stitches is made. The needles will then be given a reverse lateral movement back to the extreme left-hand position, by reversing the turning movement of frame 60. Successive series of stitches are thus formed. Each stitch comprises two or more stitchmachine has a plurality of needles.

Each said series or row of stitches is inclined to the preceding series or row' of stitches, as shown in Fig. 6. This shows the stitches S which are "made by the needle 36 and the stitches Sa which are made by the needle 36a.

The tongue 33 is turned so that the point of This result shifting while the stitches are being formed. The finger or tongue 33 forms a bight or fold B in the work, and since the stitches S and Sa are formed on opposite sides of the base of said bight, the efiect is to produce the rib in the work which is shown in Fig.7. The rib or bight which is formed in the work, as shown in Fig. '7, is vertically tapered and its narrow end is adjacent the points where the needles pierce the work.- The stitches are made with sufficient tension substantially to close the base of said bight, so as to form an upstanding rib in the work.

The type of machine illustrated preferably makes a look stitch, and the bobbin thread L is also shown in Fig. '7. A single bobbin thread is used for the stitches S and Sa.

I have shown a preferred embodiment of m invention but it is clear that numerous changes and omissions can be made without departing from its spirit.

Referring to Fig. '7, it will be seen that the rib B has a substantially closed base and that the two sides of rib B are very close to each other or abut each other, so as to produce a reinforced upstanding rib.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be noted that .the thin pointed end of the arm 33 is located intermediate the needles when the needles penetrate the work, and this thin pointed end is very close to the needles, as they penetrate the work.

Hence the tension of the sewing thread can form the rib'having the above mentioned configuration.

Generally speaking, the novelty 'of the machine consists primarily in the finger or arm 33, and means for shifting said arm in unison with the lateral to-and-fro movement of the needles so as to form a bight in the work, in order to form the rib B. However, the invention is not limited specifically to the pivoted arm 33, or to the specific mechanism which is shown for turning said arm 33 automatically so that it follows the lateral to-and-fro movement of the needles.

While I have shown a zig-zag formation of the rib B and of the stitches, the invention includes any irregular or ornamental formation of the rib and of the stitches, and it also includes the formation of straight ribs and of straight rows of stitches.

It is also obvious that any desired number of ribs can be formed in the work, by using a suitable number of needles, and that the invention is not limited to the manufacture of gloves.

In the embodiment described, I have shown a type of sewing machine in which the work is fed in a single predetermined direction, while the needles are. moved laterally to-and-fro, relative to the direction of feed. However, there are types of sewing machines in which the needle plate or other work support is shifted laterally to-andfro while the needles are merely moved up and down.

Likewise there are certain well known machines in which the direction of feed is varied,

linear line or lines, at the opposite sides of the peak of a bight which is formed in the work.

I have not shown the details of the well known cam ID but it is clear that said cam could be provided with dwell-portions so that there is no are bei'ngformed H While there-is a-shift betweenthe needles. and

relative lateralshift between the needles and the" the work during at least'a part'of the, operation of the machine, the needles are given a predetermined work-piercing movement, said movement being vertical in this particular embodiment.

Whenever I refer to a pair ofneedles I include the use of any desired number of needles.

I claim:

1. A sewing machine comprising a pair of needles, means adapted to actuate said needles to-and-fro in a work-piercing path, automatic means adapted and operative to feed thework relative to the needles and to produce a relative shift between the work and the needles so as to make stitches which follow a non-rectilinear path, a movable bight-forming member, and automatic means adapted and operative to move the bight-forming member so that the end of the bight which is formed therebyis located between the points atwhich the needles pierce the work.

2. A sewing machine comprising a pair of needles, means adapted to actuate said needles to-and-fro in a work-piercing path, automatic .means adapted and operative to feed the work relative to the needles and toproduce a relative shift between the work and the needles so as to make stitches which follow a vnonerectilinear path, a movable bight-forming member, and automatic means adapted and operative to move the bightforming member so that the end of the bight which is formed thereby is located between the points at which the needles pierce the vwork, said bight-forming member being longitudinally tapered and having its narrowend directly adjacent thepoints at which the needles pierce the work. v

3. A sewing machine comprising a work support, a needle support located above said'work support, apair of needles slidably mounted in said needle support so that saidneedlescan reciprocate vertically, said machine having a frame,

said needle support being connected pivotally and on a verticalaxis to'said frame so that said needle support can be rocked about a vertical axis relative to said frame, afeed-dog means adapted to feed the work forwardly in a single and predetermined direction, automatic 'means adapted and operative torock said needle support about said vertical axis so as to form stitches in an irregular line, a bight forming member pivotally connected to the work support located above the work support and turnable about a vertical axis,

and automatic means adapted and operative to turn said member so that the end of said member is always located between the points at which the needles pierce the work.

4. A sewing machine comprising a work support, a needle support located above said work I support, a pair of needles slidably 'mounted in said needle support so that said needles can reciprocate vertically, said machine having a frame, said needle support being'connected pivotally to said frame'and on a vertical axis so'that said needle supportcan be rocked about a vertical axis relative to said frame, feed-dog means adapted to feed the work forwardly in a single and predetermined direction, automatic means adapted and operative to rock said needle support about said vertical axis so as to form.

stitches in an irregular line, a bight-forming arm of said arm is always located between the points at which the needles pierce the work, said arm having -a narrow free end, said end being sufliciently narrow to permit the tension of the stitches substantially to close the base of the bight which is formed in the work by said arm.

JAMES T. DOWDALL. 

